"The National Road, that great artery of communication between the East and the West, is now crowded with a moving population... Here may be seen the huge wagon, carrying the products of western agriculture to eastern markets, and returning with the manufactured goods of New England; there, the light carriage of the traveler, and the stage-coach, conveying the mail and passengers with a velocity that would have astonished our ancestors."
—Journal entry of a traveler visiting Pennsylvania, 1832
Which of the following was the most direct national consequence of the transportation developments described in the excerpt?
- The formation of a regional economic system in which different sections of the country specialized in specific economic activitiesAnswer
- BA series of Supreme Court decisions that restricted the federal government's authority to regulate interstate commerce
- CA sharp decline in the volume of commercial agricultural production in the West due to high transportation costs
- DThe sudden collapse of the domestic slave trade as Southern planters rapidly shifted to mechanized wage labor
Answer
The formation of a regional economic system in which different sections of the country specialized in specific economic activities
The correct answer is correct because the construction of federally and state-funded infrastructure, such as the National Road, connected the agricultural Midwest with the industrialized Northeast. This enabled the development of a national market economy where regions specialized in specific economic sectors (western farming vs. eastern manufacturing) and became interdependent.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
The Market Revolution and Transportation Networks
Estimated Time:1m 0s